This is the easiest way I know to wax noses, and after reading through this tutorial, you might say ‘… why haven’t I thought of that before …?’

Well, here are some helpful hints. It’s so rewarding to end up with a perfect embroidered nose after spending so much time giving our bear the look we’ve tried to achieve… but unfortunately that doesn’t happen very often, so to cover up some minor unevenness on our bear’s nose we can use the waxing method below.

This is Romeo before his waxed nose:

Place some sticky tape around the bear’s nose, very close to the edge of the embroidered nose.

Fill an empty glass jar (jam, preserves), with very hot water (only 3/4 full). Place the lid on the jar and close it tight

Get some wax and rub it on the side of the jar until you have melted a decent amount of wax to place on the bear’s nose.

Holding the jar by the top (lid) with a cloth or towel, (so you don’t burn your hand), bring the nose close to the jar and rub the bear’s nose on the melted wax

Fill all unevenness of the nose’s threads, and don’t be afraid to add more wax as needed

If you make a boo-boo, or want to correct areas that need more wax, keep rubbing the nose against the hot jar. This will keep re-melting those areas and relocating the wax where needed.

Finally, after the wax has cooled down, get some computer or photocopying paper and rub the nose with it till it shines

Peel off all sticky tape from around the nose.
Voilà! You’ve got yourself a waxed nose..! Yeah!!

To trim the muzzle of your bear, you'll simply need a good pair of sharp embroidery scissors and a mohair brush (Fur Reactivator Brush).

Before you start sewing your bear's head together, simplify your task ahead by trimming all the fur from the front part of the head gusset, right up to where the eyes will be placed on either side of the head gusset

Like this.

Then you can proceed to pin and sew the head gusset to the head sides.

You'll find that this step will make it easier for you to sew the pieces together.
Finish sewing the head, turn right side out and stuff nice and firm. This is how your bear's head should look so far

Following the 2 photos below, trim fur from the chin area in a straight line, just like an upside down 'crew cut'

Next, trim all fur around the area where the nose will be embroidered (having a wool felt template of the nose will help you see how much to trim off. Also trim a very narrow area around the seam line at the front, where the septum and mouth will be embroidered as well.

Next (if the bear you're making has dense fur), trim a very narrow line from the neck area towards where the eyes will be placed. this will define the cheeks area much more. Omit this step if you're making your bear out of sparse mohair

Start by matching 2 ear pieces together, pin and then stitch around the curved edges. Leave the straight edges open. Turn them right side out, but do not stuff. Fold the straight edges in half and baste them together

Pinning the ears to the head

Using a couple of pins, attach each ear to the sides of the head.

The straight edge of the ear (which you've just overstitched together), should be pinned below an imaginary horizontal line which is usually below where the nose will be.

Always check for symmetry between the 2 halves of the head by using the middle seam as a guide

Front and back

... and also from below...

... and top

Sewing the ears to the head

Using a long needle and double upholstery thread, start by inserting the needle inside the neck (if the head is too big, you can start underneath the ear), and come out in front of the straight edge of the ear

Now, start sewing the ear to the head with ladder stitch, going towards the back and only picking the outside layer of the ear

When you've reached the end of the straight edge, pull threads. The ear should automatically lift.
Now make a long stitch from the back of the ear to the middle part of the head where the ear will lay later on.

Now, make a small running stitch right below the ear

Before pulling the thread, make another stitch starting close to the last stitch you did on the head and come out towards the front of where the ear should lay

Pull thread. This will make the ear to lay flat against the head

Now, to make that ear open a little more and to make sure it's really attached securely to the head, insert the needle on the edge of the ear (as shown below), and into the head

… coming out at the back straight edge of the ear.

Make a couple of knots, insert needle close to where the knots are and come out from inside the neck. Cut threads off

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About Me

My name is Monica Spicer and I have been designing and having fun creating bears since the early 1990's.
I have learned a lot in these past years and as much as I would like to travel and teach around the world, I find I'm not able to because of health reasons, so the next best thing is to share my knowledge with all of you through the wonders of the internet… :0)
These are the free 'on line tutorials' everyone has been asking for.
I've decided to list them here to make it easier to download whenever you need them, without having to email me and ask for them to be sent by email.
I do hope you'll find them useful and make your bear making a lot easier and enjoyable.
Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have, as I'll be only to happy to help you out if I can... :0)